Dr. Dre, a Defiant One, Goes From Compton Streets to Receiving His Hollywood Walk of Fame Star

variety.com:

A.D. Amorosi From the distinction of becoming hip-hop’s first billionaire to being honored with a Hollywood Walk of Fame star this week, the accomplishments and confidence of the man born Andre Young — aka legendary producer-rapper-entrepreneur Dr.

Dre — could best be summed up with the lyrics from his debut solo hit, 1992’s “Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang”: “You never been on a ride like this before / With a producer who can rap and control the micstro / At the same time with the dope rhyme that I kick / You know and I know, I flow some old funky shit.” Using hip-hop as the basis of all he’s been and made, Dre’s epic adventure — one ripe with brash self-assurance and a continued need for invention (and re-invention) — is as filled with victory as it has been tumult. “I have had such a traumatic career, but such a fortunate career at the same time,” he told director Allen Hughes for 2017’s documentary series “The Defiant Ones.” Indeed, his vastly influential and lucrative career has also been beset by personal tragedy, including the loss of his beloved brother Tyree to street violence and a son to drug abuse.

But his determination has overcome trauma. Music has always entranced the 59-year-old Compton native, ever since his mother placed her son in front of her stereo’s speakers for the first time.

Following high school, Young became “Dr. Dre” for the DJ-heavy rap ensemble World Class Wrecking Cru, and fashioned its biggest track, “Surgery.” Befriending Ruthless Records founder Eric “Eazy-E” Wright in 1986, then O’Shea “Ice Cube” Jackson and the rest of the men that made up N.W.A, was game-changing for the young Dre, who was the musical mastermind of the group’s success.